Who says you can’t bleg your way to graduation? This student deserves points for ingenuity at the very least.

Christyn Enser of USA Today College reports.

Former Howard University student fights debt with online campaign

One day at home, Arvinger was browsing his accounts on social media sites and brainstorming ways he could use them to get back to college. He realized that he had almost 4,000 Twitter followers and 10,000 friends on Facebook.

“I thought if I could get 14,000 people to give me $4, then I can get back to school,” he said.

With help from his friend and former resident hall assistant, David Castain, Arvinger created the website 4for14000.com to share his story and ask for donations to pay off his debt and go back to Howard. He hopes that visitors to his site can realize the great impact their small donation will have.

“People go to Starbucks and spend $4 easily, without even thinking about it,” he said. “If you can’t have Starbucks for one day, just one day, and put $4 toward the education of an African American who’s really trying to push to make himself better, then why wouldn’t you help?”

Arvinger knows other colleges would be cheaper to attend than Howard, but refuses to give up on the school he says has provided him with so many opportunities to advance his career and character.

“[My mother] always talked about Howard when I was little and I never really understood what she was talking about,” he said. “Once I decided to go there it was the best decision that I ever made. The atmosphere of Howard and the culture is something unmatched.”

Arvinger currently has raised almost $2,500 on the site and is confident that it will continue to be a success.